Good morning! It’s been one week since my second annual bake sale for books went live, and I couldn’t be more excited about it.
Last year's bake sale far exceeded my expectations, and I'm thrilled to be doing it again. I've made a few changes this year as a result of the things I learned last year, so I conducted the following Q&A with myself to help bring you all up to speed. Of course, if you have a question I haven't answered here, shoot me an email and I'll be happy to answer it!
Q: What is this bake sale thing all about?
A: I’m so glad you asked! The idea came about when I was creating the first version of my bucket list, and considering what kinds of things I want to do in my lifetime. Since I love baking and helping out schools, I set a goal to one day raise $1000 in a school bake sale. Thanks to the generosity of my family, friends, and a bunch of strangers, I crossed that bad boy off the bucket list last year.
Q: What school are you helping with this bake sale?
A: Because it’s in my neighborhood (and I believe every American taxpayer has a responsibility to support his/her neighborhood schools) and I worked there as a teacher for one year, I’ll be giving some of the money I raise from the bake sale to students from Morey Middle School.
Q: Wow! You’re going to give money to middle school kids? Are they going to spend it all on Hot Cheetos and Takis?
A: No, silly! I won’t be giving actual money directly to the kids. I’ll be working with Denver’s best bookstore, Tattered Cover, to purchase gift cards for books. I'm also working with the English teachers at Morey to identify kids who love reading and deserve a reward for their hard work this year. I will take the group of kids to lunch at The Kitchen, then to Tattered Cover, where I'll give them each a gift card and let them choose for themselves which books they’ll buy.
Q: Cool! But wait. You said you'll be giving some of the money to students from Morey. What are you doing with the rest of the money, buying new shoes?
A: Tempting, but no. The first $500 raised will go to gift cards for the Morey kids. Any money raised beyond that will be spent on books for patients in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at University of Colorado Hospital. Now that there are new babies in my family, I've decided that spreading the love to the littlest readers matters to me too.
Q: But babies can't read. Why would NICU patients need books?
A: Because according to the research, there are all sorts of benefits to reading to babies in the NICU. Check this out.
Q: Why did you choose the CU Hospital NICU?
A: My cousin Kelsey is a nurse there, and also the person who tipped me off to the research. She told me they have a small library in the NICU that is often in need of replacement books, and I'd love to help replenish it. Also, depending on how well the bake sale does, Kelsey has agreed to help me give some books directly to families of newborns that don't already have baby libraries started at home. Kelsey's cool, huh?
Q: Okay, so I just have to buy a cake or something?
A: You could buy a cheesecake. You could buy some cookies. You could buy my cranberry orange buttermilk scones.
Q: But all of those items are only available for delivery/pick-up in and around Denver. What if I live in Philly?
A: You can buy a dozen pink lemonade cupcakes baked by Christine!
Q: Okay, but what if I live in Texas or Minnesota or Florida?
A: I would love to see bakers from all over the country add their items to the store for you to purchase, and I will post items as they're offered through the end of the sale. Keep checking back!
Q: I’m doing Paleo. Can I just make a donation?
A: Of course! If you have $10, $20, $50 to spend helping kids get new books, I would love your help. Check out the bake sale for all the options.
Q: What if I want to bake something to be added to the store?
A: You totally can! And this is one of my favorite parts; if no one pays for it, you won’t have to bake it! No need to worry about spending hours in the kitchen only to see all your hard work earn $1.30 in dimes. Email me at jennyloydstockton (at) gmail (dot) com and I’ll send you all the details.
Q: How long will the bake sale last?
A: Now through May 23rd. But those chocolate chip cookies won’t last long. Go get ‘em!
